


Soft Rock

by birdbrainberke



Series: Broken [2]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Titles are hard, also i cut eunwoo from the character tags since he's barely in this, it's like soft rocky?, should have caught that one earlier sorry, this literally has nothing to do with music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-21 05:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10678776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdbrainberke/pseuds/birdbrainberke
Summary: Minhyuk was usually as stoic as a rock, but Yoon Sanha proved that there was an exception to every rule.





	1. Bin shut up please I’m trying to be smooth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pastries and lattes weren’t the best option after a workout, but since the pastries were sold by the cutest boy in the world, Minhyuk was willing to make an exception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of a series, obvi, and I called it “Broken” just because that refers to the Binu fic, and that stuff will creep up in this one. And the Myungjin one. And maybe the others? IDK yet. I’m making this up as I go.
> 
> Also, "Soft Rock" will have no connection to music of any kind and titles are hard and *flops on the ground*
> 
> ALSO, I realized at 1 a.m. that it may not immediately be obvious that this fic starts before the events of "Broken Bones"; it'll catch up to the "present" in the next chapter.

Bin was talking, but Minhyuk wasn’t listening. He preferred people watching, and Bin never seemed to mind that he wasn’t engaged in their conversations. Besides, if Bin actually needed something, he’d yell or hit him, so it was fairly safe to tune him out.

As they walked, Minhyuk’s attention wandered from person to person and from storefront to storefront. He stopped walking, however, when he looked in a bistro window and saw Yoon Sanha—the boy he was determined to marry and adopt several children with—gathering cups and plates off a table.

Bin had only barely realized Minhyuk had stopped when Minhyuk grabbed his arm, yelled “I’m hungry!”, and dragged him back toward the bistro. Bin protested with vague confused noises, but Minhyuk ignored him as he pulled him into the restaurant.

“Minhyuk!” Sanha said brightly, his smile widening after he finished his generic welcome and realized that he knew the person who had just walked in. “What are you doing here?”

Minhyuk could feel himself smiling more than usual, and from the look on Bin’s face—a combination of amusement and judgement—Bin noticed.

“We’ve wanted to try this place forever, so we finally decided to stop in.” The lie slid out easily, and Sanha didn’t seem to notice.

Bin, however, liked to ruin things, especially when Minhyuk was involved. “You have literally never said that once.”

That was true, but Minhyuk thought it was obvious that he didn’t want Sanha to know that. He glared at Bin as subtly as he could manage. “Or you just weren’t listening to me.”

“Yeah, pretty sure that’s not it...”

Sanha didn’t seem put off by the argument. If possible, he didn’t even seem to notice that there was an argument at all. He just smiled and waited for them to finish.

When Minhyuk looked back at Sanha, he felt his face get warm. Sanha was smiling—Sanha almost always smiled—and when he smiled, he was really pretty. Minhyuk, however, was certain his own blush had made him look like a tomato, so he grabbed Bin and dragged him closer as a distraction. “This is my roommate, Bin. Bin, this is Sanha. We go to school together.”

Sanha bowed politely, so he wasn’t looking when Bin mouthed “oh my god” in Minhyuk’s direction. Even though Minhyuk hadn’t said it, Bin had pieced together that Sanha was the classmate Minhyuk talked about every night. That was good—he was glad his best friend paid attention when he talked—but he didn’t like the grin Bin was giving him.

“Any idea what you want?” Sanha asked. “I can try to make suggestions, but I like everything, so that might not help.” Minhyuk looked at the menu board above Sanha’s head and pointedly ignored Bin’s widening grin.  

Everything looked amazing but also horrible for him following a workout. But the more he ordered, the more Sanha would love him, and that, he decided, was more important.

After deciding on what would be a reasonable amount of food, Minhyuk ordered a latte, two sandwiches, two cream puffs, and a chocolate pastry. “Wow, you must be hungry!” Sanha said, eyes wide as he punched the order into the computer.

“Yeah, just came from the gym.”

“The one at the end of the road?” Minhyuk nodded, and Sanha’s perpetual smile widened, which Minhyuk found adorable. “I need to start working out. I’m getting puffy.” He pinched his cheeks, and Bin’s eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. Minhyuk knew that look; it was the look Bin got when he found something embarrassing amusing, and in this instance, Minhyuk did not appreciate it.

He did, however, appreciate that opportunities to spend more time with Sanha were presenting themselves. “You should come with us! To the gym, I mean. We can all work out together!”

Bin’s face shifted to his standard shocked expression, and Sanha looked from Minhyuk to Bin and back again, apparently not processing Bin’s shock as anything abnormal.

“Really? That’d be amazing!”

“Yeah, amazing,” Bin repeated, turning to look at Minhyuk with his “you are an idiot and I sort of hate you” look.

Sanha didn’t say anything more for a few seconds—he and Minhyuk were just looking at each other, which Minhyuk didn’t mind at all—until he realized that Bin and Minhyuk still needed to pay in order for him to get working on the food.

“Add a latte for me,” Bin said. “He’s buying.” Minhyuk resisted the urge to hit Bin, and he pulled out enough money to cover the extra latte. Sanha didn’t question it, and when he gave Minhyuk back his change, Minhyuk noticed Bin frown.

“That’s not much,” Bin said, pointing at the total on the register. “You sure you did it right?”

Sanha nodded. “Friends and family discount,” he said, and Minhyuk knew he was _definitely_ blushing this time.

Minhyuk shoved the money into his wallet as Sanha said something about bringing their food to them. He nodded, still not wanting to lift his head in case Sanha saw how red he was, and Bin grabbed Minhyuk’s arm and dragged him to a table by the front window.

Because Bin obviously wanted to make it harder for Minhyuk to look at Sanha, he took the seat that faced the counter. Bin smirked when Minhyuk struggled to look behind him without being obvious, and that made Minhyuk determined to prove to Bin that his interference didn’t matter. He decided to first twist around under the guise of cracking his back, and when he could see behind him, he saw that Sanha was too busy getting everything ready to pay attention to someone staring at him.

Minhyuk wondered what he’d say to Sanha when he came over with the food—he had to find a good way to prolong their conversation as much as possible—but Bin interrupted his thoughts. “So this is the guy you never shut up about?”

“Obviously.”

“And why do I have to be dragged into this?” Bin had begun picking apart a napkin out of boredom.

“Because it’s your job as my best friend? Why else?”

Minhyuk took Bin’s expression to mean that he didn’t want any part of this, but Minhyuk was determined to make sure he had no choice. Only seeing Sanha during classes hadn’t done anything, so he needed to have more excuses to see Sanha. This random discovery luckily had given him that chance, so he was going to take it, and Bin was going to help him dammit.

Minhyuk watched Sanha for the next several minutes until he came over, carefully balancing their order on a large tray. He played Bin’s latte in front of him first, then unloaded Minhyuk’s order. When he struggled to find a place to put the latte, Minhyuk held out his hands for it to save him the trouble.

“If you two keep coming, we’re going to need bigger tables,” Sanha said as he gestured to all the plates in front of Minhyuk.

“You should get on that, because this all looks amazing!”

Sanha’s cheeks reddened slightly, and Bin made a noise that sounded a bit like gagging. “Yell for me if you need anything, okay?” Sanha said, then he hurried off and disappeared into the back room.

Once Sanha was gone, Minhyuk smiled into his latte, only then noticing that there was a smiley face drawn in the foam. “Bin! Look!” Minhyuk pointed energetically at his coffee. “He made a smiley face!”

“Yeah, he did in mine too.” Bin tipped the mug slightly toward Minhyuk, who just frowned. “You’re not special.”

“Okay, but yours looks sloppy and dumb. Mine was clearly done with care.”

Bin wasn’t convinced, but Minhyuk didn’t care. He pulled out his phone to snap a picture of his latte, and he ignored Bin when he reached over, grabbed one of the sandwiches, and took an aggressive bite out of it.

“If you like him so much, why don’t you work here?” He jerked his head toward the window, which had a Help Wanted sign in the corner. “Then you can spend all your free time with him and stop moping around.”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened—he’d been so focused on Sanha that he’d completely missed the sign—and Bin began shaking his head vigorously. “Minhyuk, no. I was kidding.”

“I know,” Minhyuk answered, but Bin’s sarcasm wasn’t going to stop him from getting an application.

Minhyuk spun in his seat. “Sanha!” he said loudly enough to get his attention. When Sanha’s head popped up from behind the counter, Minhyuk asked, “You’re hiring?”

Sanha nodded energetically. “Yeah! Are you thinking about working here?”

The excitement in his voice was obvious, which made Minhyuk’s heart start pounding harder, and since he didn’t trust his voice to work, he just nodded.

“That’s so exciting! Let me grab an application!”

Sanha disappeared into the back, and Minhyuk turned back in his seat in time to see Bin take another large bite out of the sandwich in his hand.

“You’re a mess,” Bin said, and Minhyuk just shrugged as he poked affectionately at the smiley face in his latte. Maybe Bin was right, but making progress on the Sanha front made Minhyuk happy, and even his grumpy best friend couldn’t ruin that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m realizing I’ve based Bin and Minhyuk’s relationship on me and my best friend—light abuse with a lot of snark. Write what you know, I guess?


	2. I am not a good food service worker.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk had not expected to almost lose his job, nor did he expect that Sanha would be the only reason he didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was determined to fit this into 3 chapters so it would mirror Broken Bones, but it’s super not gonna happen. So whatever. I’m ballparking…5? But that could change. It could be 4 or 7 idk. Planning can only do so much, apparently.

Minhyuk was not fit for food service, partially because he didn’t care about the job, and partially because he didn’t care about the customers.

Sanha, on the other hand, quickly became both the customers’ favorite and the manager’s favorite, because he _did_ care and because he was both efficient and friendly. He somehow managed to hold extensive conversations with each customer while still ensuring everyone was served quickly. Minhyuk wondered how much caffeine the boy drank in order to vibrate at that frequency and still manage to be civil with cranky customers.

People, it seemed, didn’t _dislike_ Minhyuk, but they didn’t seem receptive to his particular brand of customer service. Perhaps it was because he didn’t smile, or because he kept his head down and just did what he needed to do to finish each order. Or it was because he was so distracted by Sanha that he kept messing up orders and breaking plates.

It had only taken Sanha a month to get a raise and become a team lead; it had only taken Minhyuk a week to get his first warning. That wasn’t surprising, but it didn’t make Minhyuk like his job any more.

Warnings weren’t good, but they were safe. As long as he improved slightly, he’d be fine. But after he managed to spill a latte on a woman’s lap, he wasn’t sure how much more he could get away with.

“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t fire you,” the manager said, her fingers tented under her chin. She looked frustrated—understandably, since she’d just had to appease an angry customer with free food and dry cleaning—and Minhyuk knew that was bad for him.

Minhyuk bowed deeply as he struggled to come up with a response. He didn’t want the job, but he did want to be around Sanha, and though they’d slowly begun seeing each other more outside of work, he didn’t know if that would continue if he got fired.

“I’m sorry,” he said eventually, still bowing. “I’ll work harder, and I promise to be more careful if you’ll give me another chance.”

He was already well past his second chance—probably past his fifth—and the manager just sighed. It wasn’t an excuse, it was a plea, and they both knew it.

Minhyuk expected her to just let him go (even Minhyuk knew it would be the best decision), but instead, she yelled out for Sanha. Sanha appeared next to Minhyuk and bowed low.

“You have vouched for Minhyuk twice already, so he is now your responsibility.” Sanha nodded, and Minhyuk couldn’t help but look over at Sanha, his eyes wide.

Sanha had vouched for him? When? And _why_? Objectively, Minhyuk was horrible at his job, so this had to show serious lack of judgment on Sanha’s part, which wasn’t good for career advancement.

Minhyuk began shaking his head, ready to quit to save Sanha the trouble, but the manager added, “And if he does not improve, you will both be released from your employment.”

Sanha nodded again, his perpetual smile weaker this time, but he bowed deeply. Minhyuk, now too shocked to form the words to protest, bowed because he wasn’t sure what else to do, and they both left when the manager waved them out of her office.

Minhyuk was going to tell Sanha that this was a bad idea, then he was going to go back in the manager’s office and quit. But their coworker called back to them to ask for help because of a sudden rush, and Sanha immediately sprung into service mode.

Minhyuk tried to mirror him, but all he could think about was how he was now causing Sanha trouble and how that was extremely unfair.

To give himself time to think, he left the customers to the social people and went to collect dirty dishes and clean up to make room for the new customers. _Why would he do that?_ he wondered, but he was pretty sure there was no deeper reason than that Sanha was extremely nice.

He turned back to look at Sanha chatting with one of the new customers, charming her without even trying, and Minhyuk sighed. He was amazed as how nice Sanha really was, and that made him feel worse about the whole situation.

_I should just quit. He’ll be better off._

Minhyuk had, apparently, been staring long enough for Sanha to notice, and when Sanha caught his eye, his smile widened and he gave a reassuring nod.

Minhyuk inhaled deeply and, after a moment, nodded in return.

If Sanha was putting himself at risk for Minhyuk, then dammit, Minhyuk would do his best to be the happiest, most pleasant customer service worker ever.

Not that he’d be able to surpass Sanha, of course, but as he polished down the table and adjusted the chairs, he determined he was going to try.

\---------

Minhyuk worked hard to improve his performance for Sanha’s sake. He still didn’t care about his job, but he cared about Sanha, so he made a point to smile at customers, to listen to their complaints without glaring, and to focus carefully on what they wanted so they’d leave happy.

He managed well enough to turn his performance around in only a couple weeks. There was still the occasional broken plate, but the manager didn’t seem to mind since it was still an improvement. That, and he hadn’t managed to spill anything on any more customers.

A better, more dedicated Minhyuk made the manager happy, which meant Sanha wasn’t in trouble, which made Sanha happy, which made Minhyuk happy.

Minhyuk, however, wasn’t happy when the bell above the door rang on a Tuesday afternoon and in walked Bin.

And Jinwoo.

And Myungjun.

 _Oh god..._ Minhyuk thought to himself as he forced a smile on his face. He bowed and gave the standard welcome—necessary, since the manager was still around—and Bin start smirking in a way that was definitely bad.

“Hyukie!” Myungjun said, bouncing up to the counter and leaning on it. “You look so cute in your apron!”

Normally, this would be the time Minhyuk walked away and pretended Myungjun hadn’t said anything. Normally, he’d glare at Bin and tell him off with colorful language that most people would find inappropriate.

This was not a “normally” situation, which meant he was going to have to accept whatever abuse his friends threw at him.

And he didn’t like that at all.

“What brings you in?” he asked as calmly as he could, and he knew that Bin could hear the tone in his voice that meant someone was going to die horribly.

Still, Bin smiled (probably assuming incorrectly that he was safe from punishment) and Minhyuk wondered why he was friends with someone who enjoyed being such a jerk. He considered if he could just drop Bin; who cared about years of friendship, anyway, since Bin was overrated and dumb?

“You don’t have to be so stiff, Minhyuk,” Myungjun said, propping himself up on the counter and tousling Minhyuk’s hair. “Today’s a nice day! You should be more relaxed!”

This was exactly as relaxed as Minhyuk could possibly be given the situation, but he just widened his smile and nodded. “Need any suggestions?” he asked in an attempt to move the conversation toward food and away from himself. He gestured toward the menu boards above his head. “We have pastries, soups and sandwiches, tea and coffee... In the mood for anything in particular?”

Myungjun didn’t look away from Minhyuk. He was silent for long enough to make things more uncomfortable, and before he spoke, he cocked his head to one side. “Someone’s watching you.”

Minhyuk sighed softly. “I’m at work, so yeah, my manager keeps an eye on us.”

Myungjun smiled in that unnerving way of his, and he shook his head. “No, I mean that awkward giant kid over there.” He nodded to the side, where Sanha was working on finishing up a drink for a customer.

Minhyuk looked over and saw that Sanha was indeed looking over at him and his friends instead of looking at the drink he was drizzling with chocolate syrup. When Sanha’s eyes met his, Sanha snapped his head back toward the drink which, by now, had syrup dripping down the sides of the cup. “Oh no...” he muttered as he reached for a napkin to clean up his mess.

Sanha wasn’t usually this messy, but Minhyuk found it adorable, and he felt himself smile at how cute flustered Sanha was.

When he turned back to Myungjun, however, he felt himself frown at the stupid face his friend was making.

“I want whatever he’s making,” Myungjun said, “and make sure he makes it for me, okay? _And_ delivers it.” He smiled brightly, winked at Minhyuk, and bounced off to find a table.

Minhyuk turned to Jinwoo, who just shrugged. “What do you expect?” he asked as he pulled out cash and put it on the counter.

Minhyuk found it funny how Jinwoo seemed perpetually exhausted by his own boyfriend. If he were tired of Myungjun, then they’d probably have broken up, but they’d been together for three years. He knew that didn’t guarantee they were happy, but Jinwoo didn’t seem exhausted exclusively because of Myungjun. Since he was so laid back, he seemed exhausted in general. Maybe, Minhyuk thought, that was exactly the reason they fit so well together: Myungjun had enough energy to sustain both of them.

It was a balance Minhyuk had never had in his past relationships, and he hoped he had enough luck left that he could try to find that balance with Sanha.

“Want anything else?” Minhyuk asked, pushing Sanha out of his head as much as possible, at least until he finished with Jinwoo.

Jinwoo shook his head, but Bin added “I want a latte!” before rushing off to join Myungjun.

Jinwoo, unfazed, added more money to the pile on the counter.

After handing Jinwoo his change, Minhyuk bowed, told him the drinks would be finished shortly, then went to see if Sanha needed help.

Sanha had already delivered the drink he’d made a mess up, and now he was busy cleaning up the chocolate syrup that was left on the counter.

“Hey, Sanha? My friends over there told me they specifically wanted you to make their drinks and then deliver them. Not sure why...” Hearing it out loud made him realize that Sanha might think he was just making an excuse to pawn off his own work.

He started to apologize, but Sanha responded before he could properly form a sentence. “Oh, exciting!”

Minhyuk had no idea why that was exciting, but Sanha launched himself at the espresso machine and immediately began making Myungjun’s and Bin’s drinks.

Minhyuk took care of a few more outstanding orders while Sanha put careful touches on the drinks, this time paying far more attention to the drizzle than he had before. When he was satisfied, he put them on a tray and bounced off to deliver them.

 _Does Myungjun-hyung know I like Sanha_ , Minhyuk wondered as he delivered the last outstanding order to a man in the far corner. He put on his best practiced smile, said all the right things, and the man seemed satisfied even though Minhyuk hadn’t been paying attention to him at all.

His mind was preoccupied with figuring out if Bin would have said anything about his crush to Myungjun or Jinwoo, but as he walked back to the counter, he decided that Bin hadn’t, because Bin was that much of a jerk. Bin had always been trustworthy, and so far, after over a decade of friendship, none of their late-night conversations had ever made it back to anyone else. So why should this be any different?

Maybe he’d been too obvious, then? Maybe Myungjun had noticed something small when Minhyuk’s guard was down?

That was impossible, he reasoned, because Myungjun was extremely self-centered, and he’d never seen Minhyuk interact with Sanha before. Even if Myungjun had seen something, Minhyuk could lie his way out of it because there was no proof, and as long as Minhyuk didn’t protest too much, it was possible that Myungjun would forget about it.

Maybe not likely, but it was worth a shot.

Minhyuk busied himself with cleaning up, and he forced himself to not look over at Sanha. That sort of thing would be the proof Myungjun needed, and he didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of ever being right.

Sanha returned sooner than Minhyuk expected, and he was smiling as always, which was a relief. His friends hadn’t been too weird, apparently.

“Minhyuk!” he said, bouncing on his heels. “I’m excited for Friday!”

That made Minhyuk frown. He had no idea what Sanha meant, since Friday was just movie night with his friends.

_Wait..._

Sanha had seen his frown and clarified before Minhyuk could respond. “Your friends invited me to your movie night Friday! It’ll be so fun!”

Minhyuk couldn’t help but smile because he liked having plans with Sanha, but from behind Sanha, Myungjun was smiling at him, and the smile made him look like a deranged clown.

He shivered, because that was something he very much did _not_ like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was hard, because I was originally not going to write anything in the bistro itself but that seemed like a missed opportunity? And I changed my mind halfway through about how to write this? Not thrilled, but I AM thrilled about the next chapter, because it’s gonna time skip to catch up to the thumb breaking incident.


	3. Myungjun is no longer allowed to pick movies.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk was excited to hang out with Sanha, but he should have anticipated the inevitable Myungjun Things he would have to shield Sanha from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t gonna write this chapter, because I wanted to jump ahead to the Thumb Incident and all that stuff. But a couple of you said you wanted this, and I’m a sucker for validation, so here you go. I super didn’t proofread it because I’m lazy, but theoretically I didn’t make too many stylistic mistakes...?
> 
> Edit: I did some backtracking at the beginning of this chapter, so the bit where Minhyuk invites Sanha over is in the past, before Myungjun gets involved. I structured it like "here's the past with some Minhyuk emotions > and now here's the present, to give you a lovely comparison of different Minhyuk emotions." In my head, it all made sense, but while editing I cut some references that would have glued it together better. This is why proofreading's important, kids!

A few weeks after Minhyuk started working with Sanha, he got the courage to ask if Sanha wanted to hang out after class. “We could watch a movie at my place? I can cook, if you want?”

Sanha either hadn’t noticed the way Minhyuk couldn’t make eye contact, or he didn’t care. He just bounced and clapped and offered to bring cookies to bake, “because they come out of a tube and they’re easy but they’re really good I promise!”

One invitation was enough for Sanha to ask to come over again, and soon, they were spending several nights a week together, burning through stacks of movies that they never actually ended up watching.

Sanha was the worst with movies; he talked the whole time, or spilled food because he’d been talking, or got distracted by something that reminded him of something else which would lead into a thirty-minute story about something that happened years ago. But Minhyuk didn’t care about the movies, so he would just listen to Sanha’s rambling and try not to think exclusively about kissing him.

Bin, thank god, had the good sense to give them space. Minhyuk appreciated it, but after the third time that Bin hid in his room, Sanha had pouted. “If he’s your friend then I want to be his friend, too!” Sanha had said, but he didn’t push it when Minhyuk told him that Bin was just antisocial and hated everyone.

Minhyuk always looked forward to spending time with Sanha, but he was worried about spending time with Sanha and the rest of his friends. Sanha seemed to like them, though, and they hadn’t done anything horrible or embarrassing yet, and they didn’t know about his crush, so he told himself that it wouldn’t be too bad. As long as Myungjun didn’t scare Sanha away, it was probably a good thing that Sanha would start hanging out with the group. It would give him more chances to get Sanha to love him.

Still, the way Myungjun had smirked after inviting Sanha was unsettling. It was Myungjun, though, and unsettling people was pretty much his default, so Minhyuk shook it off and instead busied himself with getting ready for Sanha’s arrival.

Group movie nights—the ones that, until Myungjun got involved, had not included Sanha—were at Bin’s and his apartment. Cleaning and food were always an afterthought, if they happened at all, but with Sanha coming, Minhyuk spent hours cleaning the apartment and searching online to figure out a nice array of foods. He was glad he knew the things Sanha liked to eat, and he made a point to get a few tubes of the cookies the Sanha seemed to love.

When Myungjun arrived, he pointed out the difference.

“Why do you never clean for us?” he whined as he stomped dramatically into the apartment. “And the food? You always give us crap!”

“Because I don’t like you,” Minhyuk mumbled as he took a bottle of wine from Jinwoo, because Jinwoo, at least, was a courteous guest.

He went to shove the wine in the freezer, and when he closed it, Myungjun was standing next to him. “That means you like Sanha, huh?”

Bin for once was useful, and he threw a pillow at Myungjun’s head. “Shut up do something useful.”

Myungjun pouted and made unnecessarily dramatic noises as he went to the DVD player and shoved the disc in.

Sanha arrived about ten minutes later, breathing heavily. “I’m sorry I’m late! I ran all the way from the bus stop because I didn’t want to make you wait.” He bowed and held out a tube of cookie dough for Minhyuk to take.

“It’s fine!” Minhyuk said, smiling and accepting the cookies. “I’m just glad you made it!”

As Sanha removed his shoes, he noticed that Myungjun and Jinwoo were already there. “Oh no! I made everyone wait!” he said, and Minhyuk shook his head.

“You’re fine!” he said, and Jinwoo added, “Usually it’s another hour because we get started, because this one won’t stop talking.”

He waved his hand toward Myungjun, who proceeded to look offended.

“You know he’s right,” Bin said, before Myungjun could respond.

Myungjun closed his mouth and pouted, and Sanha tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile.

“Let me check on the cookies,” Minhyuk said. “Got extras since I know you like them.”

Sanha beamed, and Minhyuk disappeared into the kitchen before anyone could see his stupid smile.

Behind him, Minhyuk heard Sanha shuffle toward the couch and sit down, and a strange flopping sound told him that Myungjun was on the move.

“Tell us about yourself, Sanha!” Myungjun said in that overexcited way that unnerved Minhyuk.

“Oh, well, my name’s Yoon Sanha and I’m 18 years old and I attend university at—”

“God, no, stop,” Myungjun said, and Minhyuk found himself leaning slightly to hear better. “I mean, what do you like? What are your interests?” He paused, and Minhyuk imagined Sanha thinking intently about this pretty simple question.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Myungjun continued, then second later he added, “A boyfriend?”

That was, unfortunately, the time Minhyuk’s brain decided to stop, and the tray of cookies he’d just pulled out of the oven clattered to the floor.

“Okay in there?” Myungjun asked, his voice lilting in the way that told Minhyuk he was also smiling maniacally.

Minhyuk grunted in response as he squatted to pick up the cookies. They were still hot, and one of the still-melted chocolate chips was so hot it made him drop the cookie.

“Oh no!” Sanha said as he squatted down next to Minhyuk and grabbed his hand to examine it. “You burned yourself! You have burn cream, right?”

Minhyuk wasn’t sure how to react, but Bin was right behind Sanha. He put his hand on Sanha’s back, and Sanha looked up at him.

“I got this. You go back and relax.” When Sanha didn’t look convinced, he added, “You’re our guest, after all.”

Sanha looked back at Minhyuk, who just smiled. “Okay...” Sanha said to Bin. “But if you need me...” he said to Minhyuk, and as Sanha let go of his hand, Minhyuk nodded.

“I will. Thanks.”

Sanha returned to the living room, and Bin began scooping up cookies with a paper towel. “If you don’t want tiny Satan to figure it out,” Bin said softly, “then chill. You suddenly being clumsy is gonna give it away.”

Minhyuk sighed and nodded, and before he could thank Bin for intervening, Bin was on his feet. “You’re welcome,” he said as he threw out the cookies. “Now make more, because I’ve been wanting cookies for hours.”

\---------

Minhyuk took a few minutes longer than necessary to put the cookies in and sweep up the remaining crumbs on the floor. After what Bin had said, he didn’t want to face Myungjun, because if Myungjun _had_ figured it out, Minhyuk didn’t know if he could lie convincingly enough to stop the inevitable train wreck.

He couldn’t hide forever, though, so he took a deep breath and returned to the living room to find Sanha look over at him, clearly still concerned.

“New cookies in,” he said, “and no more accidents,” he added for Sanha’s benefit. “It’s all good.”

Sanha seemed to relax, and Minhyuk gave him a small smile.

“Good!” Myungjun said with far too much excitement. “Now we can get back to what we were talking about before.” He paused, waiting for something, before sighing. “The question I asked earlier? To Sanha?” Sanha looked at him, head sideways like a confused puppy. “If you have a boyfriend?”

Bin caught Minhyuk’s eye and gave him the look that said to “seriously chill.”

Minhyuk tried to act casual, and as he went to sit on the couch in the only vacant seat—the middle of the couch, between Sanha and Jinwoo—he tried to keep his attention anywhere but on Sanha.

However, Sanha wasn’t answering, and curiosity won out. He looked, and he noticed Sanha’s cheeks were slightly pink.

“No, I’m single.”

Minhyuk sighed, relieved that he wouldn’t have to figure out a way to sabotage Sanha’s relationship, and he noticed that Myungjun was looking at him with that same unnerving smirk.

_Shit..._

“You’ve gotta have a crush on someone then, right?” Myungjun pressed, waggling his eyebrows. Bin groan, but Myungjun ignored him. “We can help! We’re awesome matchmakers.”

Bin snorted at the same time Jinwoo lightly hit Myungjun on the back of the head.

“Lying gets you nowhere,” Bin said as he threw another pillow at Myungjun, and Jinwoo nodded.

“I’m not lying!” Myungjun whined. “I’ve been told I’m very good at it!”

Jinwoo raised an eyebrow. “By who?”

“By me!” Myungjun said, and from his expression, he was very clearly serious. “I got us together, didn’t I?”

Jinwoo didn’t bother to respond. He’d learned it was pointless to try to convince Myungjun that his ideas were stupid.

Bin, however, enjoyed pointing out when his friends were being stupid. “Okay, so why has every blind date you’ve forced me to go on ended horrifically?”

“Because you’re grumpy and horrible, obviously,” Myungjun responded instantly. “It’s not my fault that you drive away perfectly eligible bachelors with your surly unpleasantness.”

Bin glared, which didn’t help disprove Myungjun’s point, but he seemed to realize that arguing would only make Myungjun more right, so he said nothing.

“So...movie?” Jinwoo asked, and Sanha made a noise that Minhyuk assumed meant he was excited.

“Movie, yeah! What are we watching?”

Sanha was bouncing again, and Minhyuk smiled because Sanha was adorable.

Myungjun, his attention no longer on Bin, smiled because he was evil.

“Ever seen _The Conjuring_?” Myungjun asked, and Sanha recoiled and shook his head.

“I don’t like scary movies,” he said at the exact same time Myungjun said “You’ll be fine!”

Sanha didn’t look convinced, so Minhyuk spoke up. “Let’s watch something else,” he said, standing to take the disc out of the DVD player. “He doesn’t wanna watch it.”

“Hey! Tonight’s my choice!” Myungjun said, launching himself at Minhyuk to stop him.

Things would have escalated—Minhyuk was very seriously about to sit on Myungjun—when Sanha spoke up. “Minhyuk, it’s fine. I can watch it.”

Minhyuk saw that Sanha was serious—determined, even if he still looked concerned—and when Minhyuk didn’t respond immediately, he nodded resolutely.

Minhyuk sighed. “Fine. But the second you want me to turn it off—”

“I’ll be fine. I promise,” Sanha said, and Minhyuk returned to his seat next to Sanha.

Myungjun started the movie, turned off the lights, and forced his way onto the couch next to Jinwoo, which forced Jinwoo to move closer to Minhyuk and forced Minhyuk to move closer to Sanha.

Sanha, apparently, didn’t mind, because he didn’t move away.

Minhyuk didn’t end up seeing any of the movie. He was too busy looking at Sanha, both because he was really close to Sanha and was trying to figure out if that closeness was something Sanha liked, and because he wanted to make sure Sanha wasn’t melting down because of the movie.

Sanha was definitely not okay, but he didn’t say anything about stopping the movie. After the first jump scare, he pressed himself closer to Minhyuk, and after the second, he buried his head in Minhyuk’s shoulder, but he still hadn’t made any panicked noises.

“Sanha,” Minhyuk said softly, trying to keep his voice even since the proximity was making him nervous. “We can turn it off.”

Sanha’s face was still in his shoulder, and he shook his head vigorously and squeaked out a small, muffled “No, I’m fine.”

He wasn’t fine. Minhyuk wanted to stop the movie, throw the DVD at Myungjun, and give Sanha chocolate until he felt better. And he almost did, until he realized that maybe Sanha would be angry at him if he did that. Some guys had weird macho pride, and though Sanha didn’t seem the type, he didn’t want to embarrass him. After all, he’d made a point to try to watch the movie, and even though he wasn’t actually _watching_ it, he hadn’t run away yet.

The next time Sanha squeaked and pressed his face into Minhyuk’s shoulder, Minhyuk took a deep breath and tried to put his arm around Sanha as casually as he could/.

Sanha seemed to stiffen at the touch, but he relaxed just as quickly, shifted his body closer to Minhyuk, and turned his face back toward the screen. He left his head resting on Minhyuk’s shoulder, and Minhyuk tried to keep his breathing even because if he freaked out, now Sanha would feel it.

Minhyuk hated Myungjun for subjecting Sanha to the movie, to his questions and eerie smirks, but at the same time, he was grateful to the asshole for giving him the opportunity to comfort Sanha.

At least, he admitted to himself, Myungjun was good for something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I’m slowly getting a handle on Minhyuk’s character? He’s harder than Bin to write, and I keep making him the same level of surly as Bin, and then I have to fix it because they're apparently different people? *flops on the floor*
> 
> Whatevs. Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://payneinthearsenal.tumblr.com/), because validation is the only source of sustenance I need.


	4. Sanha probably hates me and my life is over.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk is miserable because he’s convinced Sanha will never love him. His mood improves when Bin breaks his thumb, because Bin being dumb amuses him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk isn’t a complete jerk, but he’s all moody and illogical because it’s obvious to literally everyone else that Sanha loves him. He’s a mess. They’re all one collective mess.

Three months had passed since Minhyuk began working at the bistro with Sanha. Thanks to Myungjun, Sanha had become a permanent fixture in their group, which was good, but even though they saw each other at school, at work, and now socially, Minhyuk was no closer to making Sanha love him.

Things had seemed promising at first, considering how excited Sanha always seemed when he saw Minhyuk, but over time Minhyuk realized that excitement was just Sanha’s default setting.

No matter who it was, Sanha smiled at everyone and laughed with everyone. At the bistro, customers left happier than when they’d arrived; at school, their classmates left class more awake and energized.

Sanha treating everyone like they were special meant Minhyuk wasn’t special at all. Not that he wanted Sanha to be _mean_ to anyone, he’d tried to explain to Bin, but he wanted Sanha to be nicer to him than to other people. That’s how it would work if Sanha were interested.

After he and Bin finished a race in Mario Kart, Minhyuk tossed his controller to the side and flopped backwards. “Binnnn...”

“Yes, Minhyuk?” Bin asked calmly before he shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.

“Sanha doesn’t love me.”

Bin finished chewing before responding, which wasn’t normal for him. “He’s literally here all the time. When I come home there’s a 70% chance you two will basically be cuddling on the couch. I think you’re good.”

That was unconvincing, since whenever Sanha was over, they just watched movies while Sanha talked about random things like class or work or the weird dreams he’d been having. And anymore, Bin had started joining them, and Sanha had started talking to Bin even more than he talked to Minhyuk.

“He probably likes this girl we work with...”

“Evidence?”

“He’s so _nice_ to her.” He looked over at Bin, and Bin didn’t seem to care that his life was over and that he was going to die alone.

“He’s nice to everyone, so it doesn’t mean anything.”

Minhyuk whimpered. “See? He’s nice to _everyone_ , so clearly he doesn’t like me.”

“Okay,” Bin said slowly. “Have you asked him?”

Minhyuk looked at Bin, horrified. “I can’t do that! What if he says no?”

“What if he says yes?”

“But _what_ if he says _no_?”

Bin rolled his eyes. “When did you get more annoying that Myungjun-hyung?”

Even if Minhyuk loved Myungjun, that was a low blow.

Minhyuk grabbed a pillowed and hugged it tightly. “You wouldn’t get it...” he mumbled, and Bin sneered.

“Feeling insecure and unlovable? Yeah, don’t get that at all...”

While sarcastic Bin was standard, Minhyuk would have preferred someone who was actually empathetic. He considered calling Jinwoo, but since he and Myungjun were fighting, he had his own problems to deal with.

Bin shoved another handful of chips in his mouth and hit Minhyuk on the arm. “It’s your turn to pick a level.”

Bin really didn’t care, which made Minhyuk feel worse, but forcing it was only going to make him snarkier. Since the conversation was dead, Minhyuk reluctantly grabbed the controller and picked a level at random, which made Bin scoff. “Your heart’s really in it today, isn’t it?”

No, his heart wasn’t in it, because his heart was stressed out from thinking about Sanha and from having a best friend who didn’t care about his love life. Bin knew all that—he wasn’t as stupid as he looked—but clearly Bin didn’t care because Bin was a jerk.

Minhyuk didn’t bother responding—he just jammed the Start button harder than necessary and winced against the pain.

“Who hurts themselves on a controller?” Bin asked, sneering as he sped into first place.

Minhyuk didn’t respond to that either. He focused on the game, but trying to win seemed pointless. He figured after the race, he’d call it quits and probably hole up in his room.

But Bin was taunting him as he increased his lead, and that wasn’t okay. Even if Minhyuk didn’t care about winning, he _did_ care about Bin winning, because Bin needed to be knocked down a few pegs until he starting paying attention to Minhyuk’s problems.

When he focused, Minhyuk was good at Mario Kart, and renewed by his determination to destroy Bin, he focused carefully on Bin’s side of the screen to best time his attack.

As Bin was rounding the final corner and getting cockier and cockier, Minhyuk pulled the trigger and shot a blue shell at Bin.

The shell connected, Bin swore loudly, and Minhyuk sped past him, satisfied that he’d successfully annoyed Bin.

As soon as Minhyuk coasted over the finish line, Bin growled and slammed his controller on the table in frustration. Minhyuk expected him to stalk away to pout before challenging him to a rematch, but instead Bin just screamed out in pain and grabbed his hand.

“Who hurts themselves on a controller, Bin?” Minhyuk asked, trying to hide a grin, but he soon realized that Bin had managed to snap his thumb in half. Bin’s eyes were filling with tears and his hand was swelling, and Minhyuk found that he didn’t feel as bad for Bin as he should have. “You should have been more careful,” he said lazily as he hopped up to switch to a new game. “Don’t hurt yourself more on the way to the hospital,” he added, nodding toward the door to remind Bin that he needed to see a professional. Staring at Minhyuk and glaring wasn’t going to do anything to fix his finger, no matter how hard Bin tried.

Bin didn’t say anything as he grabbed his keys and stormed out.

While Bin’s default was cute-pouty, this had turned into annoying-pouty. And sure, Minhyuk was pouting, too, but he was mad at Bin, so as soon as Bin was gone, he grabbed his phone and texted his friends.

**_bin broke his finger playing mario kart. discuss._ **

It was a dick move, but Bin was a dick, so Minhyuk figured it all balanced out.

He only had to contemplate his own jerkiness for a minute, however, because his friends began responding quickly.

 

    MJ:                           **_!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_**

    Jinwoo:                    **_how the hell do you manage that?_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_Oh no! :( :( :( Binnie, are you okay?_**

    Grumpyhead:           **_FyrCj you minhuyj_**

 

Texting with his left hand was clearly not one of Bin’s skills, and Minhyuk couldn’t help but smile. “Serves you right, jerk.”

\---------

After the group chat went silent—presumably because Bin didn’t have the dexterity to defend himself—Minhyuk turned his attention back to the TV, and he didn’t bother to check his phone when it vibrated with another text.

Within minutes, though, his phone was vibrating like crazy, and he paused his game to check.

His friends had started a separate chat, this time without Bin, which was surprising until he began reading.

 

    MJ:                           **_OMG WE ARE GOING_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_?_**

    MJ:                           **_THE HOSPITAL!_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_??_**

    MJ:                           **_TO SEE BINNIES NEW BOYFRIEND_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_????_**

    Jinwoo:                    **_This is a terrible idea obviously that guy just helped him out since his hand is broken_**

    MJ:                           **_hell YEAH hes gonna help him out ;)  ;) >:]_**

    MJ:                           **_plus you don’t use that many hearts unless you like dudes jinjin obviously have you met you?_**

    Jinwoo:                    **_I do not use hearts like that_**

    MJ:                           **_i have several texts as proof screenshotting now_**

    Jinwoo: **_..._**

    MJ:                           **_oh wait I have to delete some pictures from them first the kids cant see these_**

    Jinwoo:                    **_!!!!!!!!!! you’re DEAD_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_o.o_**

    MJ:                           **_unless you want them to see them?_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_O.O;;;_**

    MJ: ** _you are kinky like that_**

    Jinwoo:                    **_STOP SAYING THINGS IMMEDIATELY FINE YOU WIN_**

    Jinwoo: ** _minhyuk put on pants we’re coming to your place_**

    Jinwoo: ** _Sanha that means you too so get moving_**

    Sanha <3<3<3: ** _I’m already wearing pants..._**

    Sanha <3<3<3: ** _Min, are you not wearing pants?_**

    Sanha <3<3<3: ** _Min??_**

    Sanha <3<3<3:       **_Min why are you not wearing pants????_**

 

Minhyuk was confused, then amused, then mortified, and he shook his head as he switched to the original chat.

 

    Grumpyhead: ** _Hi, this is Binnie’s waiting room buddy Dongmin. He asked me to ask you to kindly shut up and stop interrupting our lovely chat in the emergency room. Thanks! <3 <3_**

 

“Oh my god...” Minhyuk breathed. This was their chance to get Bin a boyfriend and consequently make him less of a grump.

Even if Myungjun was a bit overexcited about an unlikely possibility, Minhyuk couldn’t say he wasn’t curious, especially since this would also distract him from his Sanha problems.

His phone said it was just past 10, and it would take his friends maybe thirty minutes to arrive, provided they weren’t all obnoxiously slow. That gave him enough time to fix his hair and figured out what to wear because he was going to see Sanha, and even if Sanha didn’t love him he still didn’t want to look bad when Sanha arrived.

He underestimated how long it would take him to get ready, because he only just managed to pull on a clean shirt that he knew Sanha liked when he heard banging at the door.

He ran to the bathroom, smoothed down his hair as best he could, then ran to the door and pulled it open. Myungjun was in the front, staring up at him expectantly. Jinwoo was leaning against the far wall, clearly only here because he was being blackmailed. Sanha stood behind Myungjun, waving over his head at Minhyuk.

Minhyuk waved back and smiled widely, because even though he was pretty sure Sanha was in love with someone else and was only a few years away from marrying her and buying a house and having three kids and several dogs with her, Sanha’s smile was infectious. He couldn’t help but smile when Sanha was around.

He was about to say something to Sanha when Myungjun hit him in the stomach. “It’s good manners to greet everyone, especially me. Honestly, kids these days...”

Minhyuk ignored him, locked the door, and shoved passed Myungjun to get to Sanha. “Ready to go?” he asked, bouncing lightly on his heels, and Sanha nodded as energetically as ever.

Just seeing Sanha had improved his mood significantly, and even though he knew this crush was going to end horribly for him, he was still glad he got to spend time with him.

_Especially_ when that time was spent torturing Bin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, I literally tried to type “fuck you minhyuk” with my left hand to see what would happen. That mess it what actually happened in reality with my actual phone. I have no skill.
> 
> Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://payneinthearsenal.tumblr.com/) with tips on how to improve my off-hand texting skills. Ya know, for emergencies or whatever.


	5. This is now how tonight was supposed to go at all and I want a do-over.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minhyuk wanted to torture Bin, not deal with his feelings for Sanha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a couple different directions I was going to take this, so hopefully I picked the right one. I’m decently satisfied with it, though, so there’s that :p

Bus rides were normally boring, but Myungjun was determined to make it interesting.

“You like Sanha, right?”

Minhyuk froze, and his eyes darted reflexively to Sanha. Sanha hadn’t noticed anything—he was busy mouthing along to a song that must have been stuck in his head—but Myungjun was looking up at him with an ungodly smirk on his face.

He wanted to deny it, pretend Myungjun was crazy, deflect until Myungjun latched onto something unrelated. But Myungjun knew. He may have phrased it as a question, but the look in his eyes meant he was certain.

But when had he figured it out? He was pretty self-centered, and Minhyuk had been so careful. He’d only told Bin, and even if Bin could be unpleasant, he’d always been loyal.

Myungjun had been hinting that he knew something, but he was the type to make wild guesses with nothing to back them up. So when had the hinting turned into more?

“Don’t worry!” Myungjun said. Apparently he’d seen the worry on Minhyuk’s face. “I won’t tell anyone!” He winked, which did nothing to convince Minhyuk that he wasn’t lying.

Myungjun didn’t say anything else to Minhyuk for the rest of the trip—he was busy trying to get Jinwoo’s attention—but Minhyuk was still concerned. This wasn’t something he was going to drop, not knowing how persistent Myungjun could be.

\---------

The short bus ride to the hospital seemed endless, and Minhyuk worried every time Myungjun opened his mouth that he was going to tell Sanha everything.

Luckily, nothing eventful happened, and when they arrived at the ER, Myungjun turned his full attention to Bin.

Predictably, Bin was grumpy, but Dongmin was pretty cute and definitely into Bin. Sanha saw it, Myungjun saw it, and even Jinwoo saw it despite being glued to his phone.

Bin, of course, did not see it, because he was stubborn and, admittedly, in a lot of pain. He’d bolted out of the apartment before he took any medicine, so he looked rough.

That also _could_ have been because Myungjun was there, but most likely it was a combination of both.

Bin seemed relieved when the nurse called his name, and Dongmin seemed sad, but as soon as Bin was gone Jinwoo swooped in and started talking to him. Minhyuk assumed it was because he was trying to ignore his boyfriend, who by now was repeating “Jinjin” over and over like a child trying to get his mom’s attention. But Jinwoo was one of the nicest people Minhyuk knew, so he may have just been trying to cheer up Dongmin.

Jinwoo spoke softly enough that Minhyuk couldn’t hear him, so he flipped off his chair and moved to a closer chair.

He was hoping for something interesting, but they were talking about school, because Dongmin was apparently an overachiever and in grad school. Bin would like that, Minhyuk thought as he flipped a page in his magazine. Bin would also like the fact that Dongmin was dressed like a librarian and probably owned several other librarian-like clothes.

Even if Minhyuk didn’t think the conversation was interesting, Sanha apparently did, and the way he was looking at Dongmin made Minhyuk jealous. He’d looked at Minhyuk that way before, but it was the same way he looked at everyone—with wide-eyed fascination. That meant that Dongmin’s interests were just as fascinating to Sanha as his, and Dongmin was a stranger. Dongmin was not in love with him, and Minhyuk was, and this time when he flipped a page in the magazine, he nearly tore it out.

Sometime later, Myungjun disappeared, which seemed to concern Jinwoo. Five minutes later, he returned with an oversized teddy bear—which made Sanha coo adorably—and a bouquet of flowers that he held out to Jinwoo.

Jinwoo didn’t break eye contact with Dongmin as he took them and then placed them on the chair behind him. Myungjun pouted, Jinwoo did the same thing with the bear, and Sanha, seeing an opportunity, launched himself at the bear, deftly dodging Myungjun who was swatting at him and telling him to stay away from Jinwoo’s presents.

Dongmin watched all of this, but Jinwoo continued talking as if nothing was happening. Dongmin would need that skill, Minhyuk thought, if he ended up dating Bin. “Ignore Shenanigans” was rule 1 if you wanted to survive life around these morons.

Nothing else exciting happened while Bin was gone. Sanha wasn’t paying attention to him, Myungjun was being annoying, and there was only so many times he could flip through the same upside-down maternity magazine before he lit it on fire.

Predictably, Bin tried to leave as soon as he was done, which made Dongmin sad, which made Minhyuk want to hit Bin until he asked Dongmin out. _Then_ they could leave and this trip wouldn’t have been a waste.

Luckily, Bin noticed the teddy bear Sanha was holding and asked for an explanation. Sanha was slow responding, so Minhyuk filled Bin in, and when he mentioned Sanha’s infatuation with Dongmin, he was surprised at how bitter he sounded. He _was_ bitter, but he thought he’d be better at hiding it.

Apparently, Myungjun had thrown him off more than he realized.

Minhyuk sighed softly when Bin tried to leave again. Bin apologized to Dongmin, dragged Sanha to his feet, and was coming for Minhyuk when he stopped and noticed that Myungjun had disappeared.

Minhyuk didn’t know what Myungjun was planning, but there was obviously a plan, because someone that stubborn wouldn’t leave the ER until he’d accomplished what he came for. Whether the goal was “help Bin” or “make Bin even more miserable” had yet to be determined, but Minhyuk assumed that Myungjun, underneath it all, was actually trying to help.

Help came in the form of partial nudity, and as Myungjun yanked Bin’s shirt up, Jinwoo shook his head, Sanha’s eyes widened in confusion, Bin growled, and Dongmin’s face turned an impressively deep red.

“We couldn’t leave without you seeing Bin’s abs!” Myungjun said happily. “He’s got good abs, doesn’t he?”

This was far more interesting than the maternity magazine. He watched Bin try to fight off Myungjun, then he looked at Dongmin, whose eyes were darting between Bin’s abs and the floor.

Maybe his methods were unorthodox, but Myungjun, it seemed, was about to succeed in hooking the two of them up.

The only issue was keeping Bin from running away.

Bin was stronger than Myungjun, and when Myungjun realized he was about to lose his grip, he shouted for Minhyuk and Sanha.

Sanha responded faster than Minhyuk, and each grabbed one of Bin’s arms to keep him from escaping. He needed to get Dongmin’s number first, and that, apparently, required his abs.

Minhyuk smirked when Bin stopped wiggling, but when Bin growled his name, he froze. “The bistro.”

That would have made no sense to anyone else, but to Minhyuk, the meaning was perfectly clear: _Let me go or I swear to god I’ll tell everyone why you started working there._

The secondary meaning was also painfully obvious: _If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me._

Minhyuk released Bin immediately. Bin may have been loyal to a fault, but he was desperate, and Minhyuk knew that a desperate Bin was dangerous.

He started to back away from Bin, pointedly ignoring Sanha’s confused glances, when Myungjun looked up at him. “Minhyuk, what did we discuss on the way here, hmm?”

If he helped Myungjun, Bin would tell Sanha that he was basically a stalker. If he helped Bin, Myungjun would tell Sanha about his crush.

 _Stalker_ was definitely worse, but both options were horrible. He couldn’t let Sanha know how he felt, since he knew Sanha didn’t feel the same way.

So instead of trying to diffuse the situation, Minhyuk ran away.

He vaulted over a row of chairs to expedite his escape, and after dodging around an elderly lady with a cane, he was outside and running in the general direction of his apartment.

He knew he’d have to deal with things later, but if he wasn’t there, neither Bin nor Myungjun would have any reason to tell Sanha his secrets.

The plan was solid, except that as he slowed down, he heard his name, and when he turned, he saw Sanha chasing after him, teddy bear still in his hands.

_No. Oh god no..._

Sanha was not supposed to follow him. Sanha was supposed to be confused and ask him later where he went, which would give Minhyuk time to make up an excuse.

“Min!” Sanha called out, still running to catch up.

When he reached Minhyuk, he was panting hard, but that didn’t seem to bother him. “Min, what’s wrong?”

Minhyuk didn’t know what to do, so he went with his first instinct: lie.

“Nothing!” he said, voice much higher than normal. He shook his head and focused on the streetlight over Sanha’s shoulder to avoid eye contact. “Nothing, why?”

He knew he wasn’t convincing, and Sanha took a step forward, cautiously, like Minhyuk were a scared puppy he didn’t want to scare away. “Min? Talk to me...”

Minhyuk backed away, still shaking his head. “Nothing. Really, I’m fine. Really.”

This was not how he intended for his evening to go. This was the night for Bin to deal with his boy problems, not for Minhyuk to deal with his unrequited love for Sanha.

“Seriously, Sanha, I’m fine.” He tried to keep his voice even, but he could feel it shaking. He ran a hand nervously through his hair and took another few steps backwards. “You should get back. I’ll head home soon. Just gonna walk around. Get food. Clear my head.”

He started to walk away—if he couldn’t convince Sanha he was fine, then he should just leave before Sanha asked more question—but Sanha grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you trust me...?”

Minhyuk stomach dropped. Sanha sounded so sad, and when he turned to look at him, he saw that Sanha’s perpetual smile was gone and that his eyes were watering.

“Are you crying?” Minhyuk asked, his voice a whisper, and Sanha nodded.

“Yeah, because you’re not okay...”

Minhyuk felt his own eyes begin to water, and he turned his head away so Sanha wouldn’t see him start to cry.

“What scared you?” Sanha asked, moving closer to Minhyuk, his hand still on Minhyuk’s arm. Minhyuk didn’t move, and as Sanha put his other hand on his shoulder, he shivered. “What were they talking about?”

Minhyuk desperately wanted a way out, but short of an explosion or a sudden earthquake, he was stuck.

Maybe the truth wouldn’t be so bad, he reasoned. Maybe they could just move on and still be friends. Maybe, if he weren’t bottling his feelings, he would find a way to get over Sanha.

“They... I...” His voice cracked, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Min...?” Sanha asked softly. “Talk to me...”

Minhyuk turned to face him, and as he spun he smelled the faint sweetness of Sanha’s coconut shampoo. The scent was comforting—it reminded him of movie nights, of popcorn and laughter, of Sanha’s favorite cookies—and it made him wish he could run his fingers through Sanha’s hair. But that would never happen. This was as close as they’d ever be, so he took a moment to enjoy the closeness.

He wanted to stay there all night, but the longer he waited, the harder it would be to leave. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and felt a tear roll down his cheek.

“I’m falling in love with you...”

He expected Sanha to step back, to look confused and debate silently how to let him down.

He did not expect Sanha to put two fingers under his chin and tip his head up. He opened his eyes to see Sanha, tears in his eyes, smiling broadly.

“Can I kiss you?”

Minhyuk’s eyes widened, and as he studied Sanha’s face, looking for a clue to help him understand what was happening, he realized that Sanha wasn’t joking.

“You...want to kiss me?”

Sanha nodded.

The thought of kissing Sanha was both wonderful and terrifying, and for a moment he wondered if this was a cruel joke.

But Sanha couldn’t be cruel. He couldn’t imagine Sanha ever being anything but sweet and supportive and lovely.

“Okay,” Minhyuk whispered, nodding once.

Sanha kissed him softly, inexpertly, and Minhyuk felt his knees weaken and his stomach flip.

Sanha was red when he pulled away. From the way his own cheeks were burning, he knew he was also red.

Sanha didn’t say anything; instead, he linked his hand with Minhyuk’s, and the pair began walking down the street.

Minhyuk wanted to ask Sanha questions, to verify that this was real, that they were actually, somehow, a couple, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment.

As Sanha gave his hand a gentle squeeze, Minhyuk decided they could talk later.

For now, this was enough.

\---------

Myungjun had tired himself out and was nearly asleep, and Bin was pouting and slightly medicated, so Jinwoo was the first to notice Minhyuk’s text.

“Thank god...”

He’d been worried since Minhyuk and Sanha ran off. If it weren’t for Bin, he’d have waited for them, but he eventually decided that Bin had had a rough night and Minhyuk and Sanha were, at least in theory, adults capable of looking after themselves.

The one-line text offered no explanation, but it confirmed they weren’t dead, which was good.

    Minhyuk:    ** _don’t worry about us. we’re together._**

Instead of responding, Jinwoo shoved his phone in his pocket, leaned his head against Myungjun’s, and smiled to himself.

“Fucking _finally_...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that’s it. The next up _should_ be the slightly angsty Myungjin, but I’m not feeling it at all. It will happen—I can’t leave this incomplete—but I’m more in the mood to write something full of shenanigans and gooberiness.
> 
> However, the one-shots—like Sanha at the gym or Bin’s first date—will be mindless and stupid, so that could happen. Not sure. The goal is to not burn out and actually enjoy what I’m writing, so I’m gonna try to be intentional about this.
> 
> Thanks for slogging through this mess with me and for all the sweet comments! Y’all are amazing! Hit me up on [Tumblr](http://payneinthearsenal.tumblr.com/), because talking to people when there's a computer between us is one of my favorite things.


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